Strobel Metal Practice Mute Cello

Well built, fits the bridge of my 4/4 violin, and mutes the sound approx. 60 - 70%. Someone in the same room can easily hear you play. It does help quiet my violin better than my hard rubber mute. I would buy it again because I did. Lost my original.

As a beginning violin student, my opinion doesn't yet carry much weight. However I did purchase this mute on the recommendation of a popular online YouTube teacher who reviewed and recommended it. In my experience I can say that it does considerably mute the sound of the violin. However it does not silence it completely and there's really no way to adjust it with these things. This is the norm for violin mutes. I purchased the metal one because in the review it seemed to mute the sound the most. I am pleased with it. As a beginner I am very self conscious about being heard practicing but this mute quiets the sound enough for me to feel less self conscious and I am better able to commit to practicing. In a very short time I started seeing my technique improve simply because I was not being afraid of the volume. I would recommend it to a beginner or anyone who simply needs to quiet their playing.

Sound is much lower, when my son used this mute.

With this mute I can practice with my wife or kids sleeping in the next room, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Quiets things way down.

I live with two other people and took up the violin late in life and part of the reason i was not progressing as fast as I would have liked is because i was embarrassed and also did not want to disturb my flat mates. This was an answer to my dilemma... I bought two types of practice mutes (this one and a metal one) and this was far and away the winner. With this on and my door mostly closed (not even fully) my mates can barely hear me and that's when they are consciously listening for it. the only thing that i can nit pick is that knowing this is used just for practice and not for orchestral purposes. If you place it on too tight it tends to flatten the sound. For me this happens mostly on the D string.

I bought this because I am staying with my daughter to help her out and I still needed to practice. Both she and the baby stayed asleep and I was able to complete my sessions every time. It is easy to use (though it, of course, makes the instrument slightly heavier) and I got used to it in a very short time and could use my most aggressive bowing!